Luganville: war wrecks in the Pacific of Vanuatu

A former American military base in the Pacific during World War II, Luganville today houses among the most celebrated wreck dives in the world.

The center, famous for war wrecks submerged in the Pacific, is comfortably explored by taxi or rental car.

The wreck of the SS President Coolidge, a transatlantic liner converted into a troop transport ship and sunk in 1942, remains one of the world's largest and most accessible underwater wrecks.

Minutes away, Million Dollar Point, where the American military threw entire fleets of military vehicles into the sea at war's end, remains a unique diving site worldwide.

Heading inland, you visit the Mele Waterfalls, surrounded by tropical rainforest, popular for swimming in naturally terraced pools.

Toward evening, Luganville's local markets sell tropical fruit and traditional Melanesian handicrafts.

The SS President Coolidge, struck by two of its own mines while entering the port, sank without loss of life thanks to the captain's skill in beaching her near the shore, enabling the evacuation of over five thousand soldiers aboard.

Million Dollar Point takes its name from the value of American military equipment dumped at sea in 1945 rather than sold or given to local colonial authorities after the war's end.